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fav_rav 's review for:
Elena Knows
by Claudia Piñeiro
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The formatting of the ebook is so terrible that I started to wonder if I had just got a weird edition. There are no speech marks, you can’t even tell who’s saying what half the time and there is too much text on a page with no first-line indents (fine—I counted, like, 4 throughout the entire book).
As for the dialogue, it wasn’t for me. Staccato and distant like a boomer’s Facebook chat history. It was relatively credible in the parts where Elena recalls past conversations, but this was done consistently throughout the book and it just really annoyed me. Would’ve worked better in first person POV, I think.
Then there was the inconsistent use of American and British English which didn’t seem intentional, as it wasn’t limited to the dialogue, and therefore annoyed me. This probably shouldn’t annoy people but here we are.
The themes are interesting but reading the afterword I felt there was more emphasis placed on the theme of abortion than I felt was warranted reading the book. The writing style seemed fitting for the character but it just wasn’t for me.
I did appreciate that none of the characters were very likeable, and much of the descriptive parts regarding the Parkinson’s were provocative in a way that makes a reader feel uncomfortable, which I always weirdly enjoy. The struggle of someone with Parkinson’s but also, through the mother’s perspective, her daughter/caregiver’s struggle was really poignant.
The pacing was okay, I’m glad it wasn’t any longer and could have possibly been a bit shorter. It’s quite repetitive which, again, was fitting but it started to drag at some point.
The ending was pretty strong and I do recommend reading the afterword, even if it is only to then disagree with it.
As for the dialogue, it wasn’t for me. Staccato and distant like a boomer’s Facebook chat history. It was relatively credible in the parts where Elena recalls past conversations, but this was done consistently throughout the book and it just really annoyed me. Would’ve worked better in first person POV, I think.
Then there was the inconsistent use of American and British English which didn’t seem intentional, as it wasn’t limited to the dialogue, and therefore annoyed me. This probably shouldn’t annoy people but here we are.
The themes are interesting but reading the afterword I felt there was more emphasis placed on the theme of abortion than I felt was warranted reading the book. The writing style seemed fitting for the character but it just wasn’t for me.
I did appreciate that none of the characters were very likeable, and much of the descriptive parts regarding the Parkinson’s were provocative in a way that makes a reader feel uncomfortable, which I always weirdly enjoy. The struggle of someone with Parkinson’s but also, through the mother’s perspective, her daughter/caregiver’s struggle was really poignant.
The pacing was okay, I’m glad it wasn’t any longer and could have possibly been a bit shorter. It’s quite repetitive which, again, was fitting but it started to drag at some point.
The ending was pretty strong and I do recommend reading the afterword, even if it is only to then disagree with it.